Merkava
) |Row 11 title = Ability: |Row 11 info = The FLS of The Basilisk: Jormungandr |Row 12 title = Weapon: |Row 12 info = Dark Bite |Row 13 title = Japanese Voice: |Row 13 info = Hidenobu Kiuchi |Row 14 title = English Voice: |Row 14 info = Benjamin Diskin(@BenjaminDiskin) I voice Merkava in DLC Pack 4 of BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle available now! }} "A savage beast that only knows how to hunt the scent of its prey. It just might devour everything." Merkava ( ) is a former human whose transformation into a Void wasn't completed successfully. He is one of the twelve characters introduced in the original version of UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH. Background The Basilisk that Devours All A mysterious man(?) who has fallen into the corruption of a Void -- thought to be the failed shadows of Re-Births. Many are fascinated with its form of existence most recently a woman named Hilda has been pestering Merkava quite thoroughly. On this Hollow Night, many In-Births gather, and something doesn't feel quite right. "Heh, perfect..." He'll have plenty of victims to satisfy him. The hunt will go on.Introduction on the official site Information Merkava is a Void capable of speech whose instincts drive him to consume Existence. Appearance Merkava's previous appearance as a human is currently unknown. His current appearance is that of a tall, dark skinned humanoid-like creature with long arms and flashing blue markings all over his body. He has long white hair that undulates similar to flames, vanishing at the tip. Merkava's eyes do not have eyelids. When he is sleeping, the white light from his eyes vanishes - making it look like he's sleeping.Confirmed during French-Bread Information Station on September 27th 2019 Personality Like all Voids, Merkava has the desire to consume EXS and does not seem to try resisting it. However, he appears to still retain some fragments of his humanity. He genuinely thanks those who try to reason with him as if he was still human and respects those who are unafraid of him, although he dislikes those who gawk at him. Merkava dislikes when human get curious and interested in his form. He usually resides on the mountains away from the city and spends the daytime mostly by sleeping. He doesn't actually need sleep, but Merkava doesn't know any better ways to kill timeConfirmed during French-Bread Information Station on September 27th 2019. During the nighttime, he's focused on hunting for preys. Story Merkava was once a human who pursued the status of a Re-Birth, but he was consumed by the Power of Existence and turned into a Void. For some reason he managed to retain his consciousness and ability to speak, though he lost his memories at the same time. Ever since his new body has craved for more and more EXS to devour. The only memory he retains of his human life is a small girl crying but doesn't remember why. Episode: The Beast and The Hunter (『獣』と『狩人』) Ritter Schild member Londrekia Light arrives to Kanzakai to investigate a Void known to "speak human language". On the mountain trail, Londrekia meets Merkava whom had come there to hide from human attention. Merkava is amused by Londrekia's ideal of reaching a mutual agreement and solving the situation without combat. As a little prank to this amusing human, Merkava carries Londrekia's luggage to the Licht Kreis' office and then watches as Londrekia struggles through the situation. Arcade Mode Several months later, Merkava is drawn to the Abyss due to immense amount of EXS coming from Hilda. Along the way, he encounters several characters who are astonished at his ability to speak due to Void normally being mindless monsters hell-bent on devouring EXS. Upon encountering Hilda, Merkava refers to her as a "Void Red" and fights her. Before he devours Hilda, she swears revenge on both Merkava and Kuon. Some time later, Merkava realizes that, ever since consuming Hilda's EXS, his body is no longer satisfied with consuming the EXS of ordinary In-Birth and craves only the strongest EXS. He flies off into the night, intent on devouring the Re-Birth themselves starting with Kuon. In Orie's story, it's stated that Merkava could possibly be the Void that killed her parents. However, Merkava himself can neither confirm nor deny Orie's accusation. Abilities Merkava's ability is the "FLS of The Basilisk" ( ): Jormungandr ( ), which allows him to stretch his limbs for various purposes and transform them into tentacles or wings. In addition, he can partition a piece of his body and remotely control it. Merkava also does possess an extremely high natural healing ability. This is not a common trail for all Voids, but Merkava's unique abilityConfirmed during French-Bread Information Station on September 27th 2019. The pattern on Merkava's body is a technique called Curse Commandment. It is required to transfer the powers of FLS around his body. Normally one's body would produce the FLS they needed, but Merkava's body doesn't produce FLS and must consume the EXS of others to survive. Musical Theme Introduction Text |-|Exe:Late (JP)= He is anxiety. It is sad every day in the curse which fell to the brute body. Lost memory. Flesh which changed. It is not filled even if it eats eternal hungry. The world is red. It runs in the ground which dyes red and wipes the arm with which red drips. A beast called nothingness. Neither a peceful life nor hope is in this body long ago. |-|Exe:Late (EN)= He fears. Every day, the curse that permeates through his body grows stronger. The memory lost, the flesh that is no longer, the hunger that cannot be fulfilled. He dashes across the earth, drenched in red, trailing behind him, his crimson arms. A beast of the Void. Neither peace nor hope has resided in this body for a long, long time. |-|Original= He is melancholic. Grieves over the curse that made his body fallen into the beast. Lost memory. Transformed body. Eternal hunger is never satisfied. Crimson world. Running through the blood stained land, wiping the bloody arm. The beast is called immortal. This body has lost the peace and hope forever. Gameplay Check the details about Merkava's gameplay from here! Gallery Creation & Development The motif for all the Voids designs are snakes. Yoshihara also added some elements from bats as they are "denizens of the night" and fit well into the design. Merkava's appearance had to retain some degree of human-like form to show that he actually was a human before his transformation. Merkava has visually looked the same in all of his concept arts, except for his legs which changed somewhat at a certain point. Yoshihara mentions in the mook interview that originally he had created Merkava as a suppression weapon (制圧兵器) who was controlled by Hilda. However, a character without any personality of their own wasn't a very interesting concept for a fighting game character Mook interview. To make Merkava stand-out as an interesting member of the roster, Yoshihara gave him a personality and made Merkava into a special being with his own mind. Trivia * Apparently, his arms can be extended for several meters. * Jormungandr is the name of a serpent in Norse mythology that bites its own tail in a circle, similar to the Ouroboros. Only in the Jormungandr's case, it will signify the end of the world if it ever lets go. References Navigation Category:Characters Category:Male Category:Playable Characters Category:BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle